Tsitsi Ndabambi
Gospel crooner and award nominee Rose Mambo is swiftly working her way up to the main entertainment arena by saucing and spicing up her devout gospel songs through different and accommodating genres like house music which people of all ages can listen and party to at the same time.
Her soon to be released single titled “Ezintabeni” which means in the mountains in English is a poetic acquirement from the popular biblical prayer in Psalm 121.
“With all the disturbing and saddening events that the world has been experiencing due to natural disasters like cyclone Idai and the outbreak of COVID-19 which led to a massive loss of loved ones, I sat down together with Victor Stot and we wrote the encouraging lyrics to “Ezintabeni”, a song that reminds its partaker to look to the heavens for solutions,” commented Rose, “and as a way of brightening up someone’s day with the professional hand of Dj Tamuka instead of coming up with a slow or what is viewed as the normal gospel song. We vibed it up with a house beat.”
The arts industry was not spared in what might be one of the darkest seasons of the decade which found most artistes unable to do live shows which brought food to their tables, that did not stop Rose from staggering her way to the frontline and claim her small space in 2020. She had a hunger to get to the top even though the odds were thin for her.
“I released two singles including, “ Lujulile” featuring my friend Rose Tshuma, which has been nominated for the Star FM Listeners Choice Awards and “Handitenderedzeke” which carries an Afro pop flair to it. I also recorded “Ezintabeni” towards the end of 2020. I had enough time to introspect with respect to how I wanted to grow my brand and the genre that I felt so comfortable in. I am a fan of house music hence I decided to give it a try. I did not allow the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to destroy the vision I had and to slow me down in terms of music creation. I am so excited that Star FM recognized the zeal and the hard work I put in 2020 despite the obstacles. I am grateful for the recognition and praying that in the future that my music breaks the international boundaries,” said the excited Rose.
She is pulling a very tough rope to win the Star FM Listeners Choice awards under the Best House/ Amapiano song category with the crème de la crème in the music scene, South Africa based Shasha and Nox, the ZIMA award winner Mzoe 7 and Lloyd Soul, with the hope that she will claim more space in the international scene following Shasha’s footsteps.
The gospel musician who wears many hats, was born on October 11 1978 in the city of kings and queens, Bulawayo. She attained a degree in Politics and Administration, a Master degree in Public Administration and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Zimbabwe. She also holds two diplomas from the Institute of Personnel Management of Zimbabwe. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Peace, Leadership and Governance with Africa University and she is also a labor practitioner.
Her musical career in which she is finally reaping the fruits of her labor began in 2003 when she released her first album titled Kufamba na Jesu which was produced by Misheck Mahendere and Jabulani Ndhlovu. On the same project, she worked with Jonathan Mugazi who played the keyboards.
In 2007, she released an album titled Mazuva. On the same album she featured Sam Mtukudzi on the title track Mazuva where he played the acoustic guitar and the alto saxophone. She also featured Patience Musa on the song Ndinokudai contained in the same album. The album was produced by Jairos Hambahamba.
In 2016 she released a single called Kuita Kwake which featured Alexio Kawara and the song was also part of the album called Haashanduke released in 2017. She has also featured Amai Shingisai Suluma on a single called NaMwari which was produced by Cornelius Muponda. She has also worked with Mathias Mhere on a song titled Mufaro and the song is yet to be released. In 2020, she released UManqoba where she featured Mehluli Moyo (Taz) and the song was produced by Cornelius Muponda and has a video which was directed by Umsebenzi Blaqs. Rose has also worked with DJ Tamuka on two songs namely Handitenderedzeke and Lujulile. Lujulile is her latest release and is also accompanied by a video directed by Umsebenzi Ka Blaqs. Rose is married and is a mother of two who is a regular in the gym.
